Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Christian Peace Team, Nov. 29, 2014 - At a demonstration to protest the closure of checkpoint 56 in Hebron
on Saturday 29.11.14, a torrent of teargas and sound grenades rained
down from Israeli forces, also armed with live ammunition, who were
occupying rooftops above Bab az- Zaweyeh. Leading onto the small section
of Shuhada street on which Palestinians are allowed to walk, checkpoint 56 leads from Bab az-Zaweyeh (the central square which marks the boundary of Israeli controlled-H2,
and Palestinian Authority governed H1) to the neighbourhood of Tel
Rumeida. Last week the checkpoint was set on fire during clashes, and
the checkpoint has been closed by Israeli forces ever since. This act of
collective punishment demands that families living in Tel Rumeida walk
an extra hour, or that they walk through the homes and gardens of other
Palestinians, to reach their homes. These families therefore organised a
nonviolent demonstration to protest this closure, which is another
example of the daily harassment and routine restriction of the rights
and movement of Palestinians living under occupation.

The demonstration was a nonviolent march towards the checkpoint, attended by families from Tel Rumeida and the organisation ‘Youth against Settlements’,
some of whom were waving flags and chanting “no to the occupation”. It
took less than a minute before Israeli forces, who were already
occupying rooftops nearby, to fire the first teargas canister into the
crowd of people, swiftly followed by a sound grenade. In the half hour
that followed, at least 15 tear gas canisters and 12 sound grenades were
fired by Israeli forces into the busy square of Bab az-Zaweyeh. As
anger and frustration at the sheer repressive force of the Israeli
military mounted, stones were also thrown by Palestinians, yet were
unable to reach the rooftops occupied by the heavily armed Israeli
soldiers and police. The two CPTers who were in attendance, documenting,
monitoring and photographing what was initially a nonviolent
demonstration, were also directly targeted by sound grenades and
teargas, by Israeli police who were also pointing live ammunition into
the crowd. With the demonstration violently suppressed, clashes
continued into the afternoon.